Fall Home + Garden Design 2010

AN ALMANAC, MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE AND PALO ALTO WEEKLY PUBLICATION
FALL 2010
East meets West in
Mountain View I Page 4
A RECIPE FOR
Second-story addition ямБts
Menlo Park streetscape
Page 10
Creating a really green
home I Page 22
IN PALO ALTO
PAGE 16
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Products You Know from People You Trustâ&#x20AC;?
Bruce Bauer Lumber & Supply
Family owned since 1938
134 San Antonio Circle,
Mountain View, CA 94040
s WWWBRUCEBAUERCOM
-ON
&RI AM
PM s 3AT AM
PM s #LOSED 3UN
2 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
CONTENTS
MAGAZINE
FALL 2010
04
EAST MEETS WEST
10
ADDING UP
16
A RECIPE FOR GREEN LIVING
22
CREATING A REALLY GREEN HOME
28
PLAN BEFORE YOU PLANT
Traditional, contemporary merge in bigger, but more
energy-efficient home
Second-story addition fits neatly into the streetscape
Futuristic design reuses many original materials
Giving new meaning to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;reuse, reduce, recycleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Ten things to keep in mind when designing your garden
STAFF
Publisher: William S. Johnson
Editor: Jay Thorwaldson
Home & Garden Design Editor: Carol
Laurie Callaway, Kate Daly
Photographers: Barbara Boissevain,
Dasja Dolan
Blitzer
Vice President Sales/Marketing:
Art Director: Diane Haas
Writers: Ann Bertelsen, Carol Blitzer,
Walter Kupiec
Advertising Sales: Janice Hoogner
Embarcadero Media
(The Almanac, Mountain View Voice, Palo Alto Weekly)
#AMBRIDGE !VE
0ALO !LTO
#! s
www.PaloAltoOnline.com
#OPYRIGHT Ă&#x161; BY %MBARCADERO -EDIA !LL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
graniterock.com
Cupertino
Design Center
1505 South DeAnza Blvd.
408.996.4500
Redwood City
Building Materials
330 Blomquist St.
650.482.4100
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Building and Landscaping Supplies
Natural S4/.&:&4"*.*.(!",,3
Rock, S".%".%2"6&,:"6&23
Delivery Services
TOUCH IT.
ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REAL.
ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ROCK.
GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS
LEED accredited professionals on staff
High-Fly Ash Concrete
&26*/53C/.$2&4&".%&2-&"#,&"6&23
Regionally Harvested and Manufactured
Aggregate, Concrete, and Asphalt
Recycled Materials, and Services
home+garden design | FALL 2010 3
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
EAST
MEETS
WEST
Traditional,
contemporary
merge in
bigger,
but more
energyefficient
home
Focal point of
the house, top,
is an aluminum
and glass-floored
bridge that
soars above the
first floor, with
light flowing in
through six square
windows. Left,
the “Japanese
bath” incorporates
a shower and
soaking tub in
one wet room.
Although located
between the kids’
rooms, the whole
family uses it.
4 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
by Kate Daly /
photos by Barbara Boissevain
W
hen Bill and Kayo
Rust first moved to
the Blossom Valley
neighborhood of Mountain
View five years ago, they bought
an older two-bedroom, onebath California rancher, hoping
to expand it to meet their growing family needs. Fast forward
to now, and they are thrilled
to be living in a new four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath,
contemporary-looking, two-story house that’s more than three
times the size of the old one, yet
surprisingly energy efficient.
Bill Rust is a software engineer with Agilent, and Kayo
Rust has worked as a financial
analyst with Hewlett-Packard.
With two young children, they
quickly outgrew the old house
that was just over 1,000 square
feet.
“We heard it was a kit brought
here in pieces like the house
across the street,” Bill says.
continued on page 6
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
Custom-built maple cabinets, top, form a half wall that separates the living room from the dining room. Above, the
kitchen island is topped with CaesarStone, curved on one side.
home+garden design | FALL 2010 5
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
continued from page 4
The Rusts originally planned to
remodel the 1948 home to add a
second story and more light, but
as their architect, Howard Post
of Portola Valley, explains, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That
house had an inadequate foundation and the materials were poor.â&#x20AC;?
The decision became clear: Start
over. Post drew up several schematics, but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until after the
clients sent him a picture of a place
they liked on 17 Mile Drive, that
Post felt he could cut loose. He
spent all night designing â&#x20AC;&#x153;a more
dramatic solution with volumetric
interest.â&#x20AC;?
The end result is what he calls,
â&#x20AC;&#x153;a happy marriage of traditional
Japanese and contemporary
American influences,â&#x20AC;? that converge in an open floor plan downstairs and a bridge upstairs.
The pale-yellow stucco exterior
of the house hints at whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to
come inside. The 588-square-foot
attached garage has a distinctive
looking door. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s made of alumi-
num and Colplay glass panels to
match the rest of the aluminum
windows, all meant to be maintenance-free.
Hardiplank, a manmade material
that looks like wood siding, covers
part of the gabled entry. The front
door is made from stainless steel
with a bamboo glass cut out.
Kayo is from Japan, and wanted
a foyer that transitioned between
the outdoors and indoors. Post
says, based â&#x20AC;&#x153;on traditional Japanese
house design, the entry had to be
at a different level using a different
floor material.â&#x20AC;?
The entry floor is tiled, and the
walls are painted lavender. The idea
is to stop, take off shoes, then walk
up two steps, and go barefoot on
the red oak floors in the rest of the
house.
The radiant heating system works
to keep the floors warm, according to contractor Chris Donatelli
of San Jose. He started with Stego
Wrap, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a plastic sheet to line the
earth and go up the foundation,
leaving a six-inch space of concrete.â&#x20AC;? For the subfloor, he used a
thick plywood, Warmboard, which
has grooves set at least seven inches
apart to make room for the aluminum tubes that constantly circulate
hot water under the hardwood
floors.
Donatelli says the entire house â&#x20AC;&#x153;is
a tightly sealed envelope.â&#x20AC;? He used
spray foam insulation, and installed
fans that run all the time as part of
a heat-recovery ventilation system.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have eight thermostats in the
house so we can balance the temperature in each part,â&#x20AC;? Bill says.
Overall, the house looks cool,
however, with light grey or white
walls, lightly stained wooden cabinets, darker stained Douglas fir
doors, some fitted with frosted
glass and some not. Then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
the focal point, a 16-foot by 4-foot
steel, aluminum and glass-floored
bridge that dominates the space
above.
In the center of the house, the
continued on page 8
ASK US ABOUT OUR
BIODEGRADABLE NETTING
CALL NOW!
0ALM !VE
-ORGAN (ILL
s WWWGRASSFARMCOM
Buy Local, Buy Direct
504 Square Feet
at $186.00 picked
up 1 day notice
BENEFITS OF NATURAL GRASS
s Releases oxygen & cools the air
s Safe play area for your children
s Controls pollution & reduces
greenhouse gases
s 30Â° cooler than asphalt or synthetic turf
Everything for your garden and more!
Visit our GARDEN CENTER
,ENA !VE
'ILROY s s WWWGARDEN
ACCENTSNET
6 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
SAVE NOW
on Gorgeous Hardwood - a natural product
and harvested from sustainable forests.
AnsoÂŽÂŽ nylon carpet from Shaw is designed to be
recycled! It's Sustainable AND Fashionable, too.
+ No Sales Tax
MTN VIEW/LOS ALTOS
612 San Antonio Rd (650) 965-9600
(next to Citibank, across the street from Sears)
Campbell
Salinas
Newark
Dublin
415 E. Hamilton Ave
148 John Street
5763 Stevenson Blvd
6632 Dublin Blvd
408-374-1550
831-757-2974
510-440-1366
925-828-5330
OPEN EVERYDAY!
*OfferDetails:
expires 4/30/09.
Special
terms
of 12 months
no payment,
option will
apply
to purchases
charged
with approved
to of
your
Carpeteria
card issuedforby12
Wells
Fargowill
Financial
Bank. charged
No payments
requiredcredit
duringto
Offer
Free Sales
tax and
installation
applies
to selectno
to interest
select carpets
only.
Promotion
expires
12-31-2010.
Specialcredit
terms
interest
free ďŹ nancing
months
apply National
to purchases
with are
approved
the option
period.
Theissued
no interest
option
meanspayments
there is no
if your purchase
paid in full
withinare
12 required.
months of The
the date
of purchase;
otherwise,
interest
accrues
fromif date
purchaseisatpaid
the in
regular
APR for
your
Carpeteria
card
by Citi.
12 equal
of interest
the outstanding
balanceis payable
monthly
no interest
option
means there
is no
interest
your of
purchase
full within
12purchases.
months ofThe
theregular
date of
APR is 26.40%
as of 1/1/08.
APR may
vary.
Not
with any
other
discount
promotion.
Minimum
$500 purchase
required.as10%
depositThe
required
allvary.
orders.
mustany
be other
installed
or delivery
taken within
90 days$500
of sale.
See
purchase;
otherwise,
interestThe
accrues
from
date
of valid
purchase
at the
regular
APRorfor
purchases.
The regular
APR is 26.40%
of 1/1/10.
APR on
may
NotProduct
valid with
discount
or promotion.
Minimum
installed
store for details.
for illustration
only. Contractor's
Lic.all#397779.
purchase
requiredPhotos
for ďŹ nancing.
10% deposit
required on
orders. Product must be installed or delivery taken within 90 days of sale. See store for details. Photos for illustration only. Contractorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lic. #397779.
home+garden design | FALL 2010 7
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
continued from page 6
ceiling extends all the way up to
the roofline. The bridge acts as a
see-through hall connecting the
master-bedroom suite on one wing
to the kids’ bedrooms and shared
bathroom on the other end. The
bridge has wire cables on the sides,
which are currently covered with
acrylic panels to make the structure
more childproof.
Two triple-paned skylights bring
in lots of light, as do the six square
windows that are mounted above
the bridge on the walls facing south
and north.
Directly beneath the bridge is a
line of custom-built maple cabinets
that separate the living room from
the family room and provide lots
of toy storage. The cabinets form
a half wall, and in the middle is a
large-screen TV that can be lowered, raised and swiveled by remote
control.
That common area spills into
the rest of the rooms on the first
floor: the kitchen, dining room,
half-bath, laundry room and guest
room suite. The kitchen continues the wood theme, with more
cabinetry with special pullouts to
accommodate bulky items such as
a rice cooker and bread maker. Like
the counters, the island is topped
with an off-white CaesarStone, but
it is curved on one side to make the
set-up more conversational.
Upstairs, the kids’ bathroom
is lined with a taupe-colored
Fontainebleau limestone in the
shower and tub areas, and then a
glass door and wall enclose that
part to keep the steam inside. In
keeping with Japanese tradition,
Kayo had a shower put in next to a
deep tub because she says, “Before
taking a bath we wash ourselves,
then use the same water in the
soaking tub.”
Kayo says she wanted a house
that was full of light, “not so ornamental”, and easy to clean. Now
that the family has lived in this
new home for a couple of years, she
is happy to report it is simple to
maintain, and “we don’t use the
lights during the day.”
Bill is particularly pleased their
monthly PG&E bill came to just
$48. h+g
Resources:
Architect: Howard Bankston
Post, Portola Valley, 650-3286963
Building contractor: Chris
Donatelli, Chris Donatelli
Builders, San Jose, 408-287-4886,
www.dcbuild.com
Landscape designer: Jim Aguirre,
Aguirre & Associates Landscape,
Santa Clara, 408-733-1080
Goal of project:
Build an economical family home
Unanticipated issues:
Noise carries in an open floor plan
Year house built:
2007-08
Size of home, lot:
2,850-sq-ft house on 11,200-sq-ft lot
Time to complete:
One year
Budget:
$325/sq ft
SAVE
$25
TO
$200
PER UNIT ON
SELECTED STYLES
NOW THRU
DECEMBER 20TH
GET AN AMAZING NEW
LOOK THIS SEASON.
YOU’LL ENJOY THE VIEW ALL YEAR LONG.
You’ll enjoy the view all year long. With some of the most
generous rebates Hunter Douglas has ever offered, there’s
never been a better time to update your window fashions.
Not only will your home look beautiful for the holidays, but
you’ll appreciate how Hunter Douglas window fashions
enhance the beauty, comfort and energy efﬁciency of your
home no matter what the season.
This holiday season, receive a $50 mail-in rebate with your purchase
of select Hunter Douglas window fashions with patented PowerRise®
motorized systems. Precisely adjust your shades by romote control
and set the mood for any occasion. Ask for details.
Additional
10% OFF
Most Products
up to $5000
May not be combined with any
other offer. Expires 12/31/10.
8 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
10% OFF
Custom
Fabrics
May not be combined with any
other offer. Expires 12/31/10.
Your backyard
IS YOUR LOUNGE.
We have been building outdoor living
environments for thirty-nine years.
As a one-step company, we can provide
you with all the components of landscape
design & construction with pro-active
integrated maintenance.
Award-winning contractors honored
over seventy times including
“Best in California.”
MODERN LANDSCAPING, INC.
AWARD-WINNING CONTRACTOR
650.324.3033 | 408.371.4477 | 831.333.9338
www.ModernLandscapingInc.com
Beautiful Flooring Made Easy
Custom Design and Installation
Carpet U Hardwood U Laminates U Natural Stone & Tile
Luxury Vinyl U Area Rugs U Hardwood Sand & Reﬁnish
(408) 470-3919 or (650) 331-8040
www.peninsula.floorcoveringsinternational.com
INSPIRATION AT YOUR FEET,
FLOORING FOR YOUR LIFE
Beautiful Flooring, Ultimate Convenience, Exemplary Service
home+garden design | FALL 2010 9
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
Second-story
addition fits
neatly into the
streetscape
by Carol Blitzer /
photos by Dasja Dolan
L
aura Rennert and Barry Eisler lived in their
1950s rancher in The Willows in Menlo Park for
nearly 10 years before they decided to add a second story. Much had changed since they bought it in
1997: They both worked at home (she’s a literary agent;
he’s an author), they had a daughter and they even had
a tiny Chihuahua named Lola.
So when they had an opportunity to move to Tokyo,
Japan, for a year, they figured they could have their
house completed while they were away, saving themselves a second move.
Just before leaving, they assembled what Rennert
calls “our dream team”: Robert Mayer, architect;
Alyson Collins, designer; and John Merwin, the contractor who had worked on an earlier remodel of their
10 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
kitchen.
Mayer scoped out the mainly single-story street and
quickly drew up plans for a second-story that wouldn’t
be too “top-heavy,” he says. “Proportion is everything.
... I wanted to avoid the ‘tower’ effect,” he adds, pointing to where the roof cuts under the second-story windows and how the visible walls appear shorter.
“My gut said it wouldn’t be easy,” says Mayer, who
sits on the Planning Commission and Architectural
Review Committee for the City of Santa Clara. His gut
was right, as both the city and neighbors challenged
the couple’s plan to build up.
The original house was built on county land, covering 39.3 percent of the lot. A later Menlo Park ordinance amendment limited the footprint to 35 percent,
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
or 40 percent if any addition was single-story. The
couple needed to apply for a variance, even though
they weren’t covering any more of the lot.
Mayer even completed a sun study to assure
a neighbor that the house would not cast a long
shadow on nearby property.
“I design a house as if I live next door. It’s about
the community, the neighborhood,” Mayer says.
“Everyone ultimately came on board, even
before the variance hearing,” Rennert says.
Wowed by the first set of plans, the family set
off for Tokyo, doing much of their communicating via e-mail, faxed digital images and a few visits
home for face-to-face meetings during the year.
The idea was to work around the updated kitchen and downstairs bathrooms, which involved
adding plywood to the back of the kitchen wall for
seismic safety.
Downstairs changes include a replacement of the
old brick Colonial fireplace with a contemporary
Craftsman version, backed in slate and glass, as
well as new doors and lighting. New baseboards
and crown moldings, the same detailing as on the
exterior, run throughout the house.
“We couldn’t raise the ceiling, so we ran the
continued on page 14
Architect Robert Mayer designed the second story,
left, to avoid a top-heavy look. Right, a contemporary
Craftsman version replaced the old brick Colonial
fireplace. Below, focal point of the master bathroom is a
free-standing deep Zuma tub, which stands in front of a
stacked-stone wall.
home+garden design | FALL 2010 11
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
Window sills in the master bedroom are 5 feet tall, assuring privacy for the homeowners and neighbors.
INTERIOR DESIGN
IS AN ART FORM.
LET US HELP YOU CREATE
YOUR MASTERPIECE.
RKI Interior Design is a full service ﬁrm with a
dedicated ofﬁce, resource library, and staff to
handle any project: Residential, Commercial
or Hospitality.
We collaborate with architects and builders
to provide clients with individual and creative
design solutions for new home construction
and remodeling projects. The RKI team strives
to create living and working environments
within a range of styles suited to the client.
■
■ LEED AP & Certiﬁed Green Building Professional ■ Commercial & Residental
Wealth of experience ■ Attention to detail ■ Fluency in all design styles ■ Excellent references
2198 AVY AVENUE MENLO PARK 650.854.9090
www.rkiinteriordesign.com
12 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
Celebrating 25 years of building dreams and relationships
License: B479799
Our Design Center is 85% solar powered.
Something beautiful doesn’t just happen.
Let the design + build team of Harrell Remodeling ensure it will.
Your home, only better.
Harrell Remodeling. We never forget it’s your home.®
1954 Old Middleﬁeld Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
(650) 230-2900
harrell-remodeling.com
home+garden design | FALL 2010 13
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
continued from page 11
molding along the top. It gave the
illusion of height,” Rennert says.
“I like uncluttered, clean and
simple. Let the lines speak for
themselves,” she says, adding that
they’re influenced by Craftsman,
Arts and Crafts and Asian design.
Today the ceramic-floored entryway features shoe storage and a
bench, a nod to their year in Japan,
as they ask visitors to remove shoes.
Turn the corner and one continues up the stairs, with mahogany
railing and a shallow top-lit niche
for future art.
Rennert’s favorite room in the
house is the new master bathroom,
with a free-standing, deep Zuma
tub in front of a stacked-stone wall,
heated floor, double square sinks
and a separate shower. The tub controls are built into the wall — what
Mayer calls “high design.”
“I do a ton of reading in my bathtub,” she says.
Because Rennert and Eisler work
at different hours, it was impor-
tant to them to have the bathroom
and closet soundproofed from the
bedroom. The large walk-in closet
separates bathroom and bedroom.
To ensure privacy — both for
themselves and their neighbors —
window sills in the bedroom are 5
feet tall.
Eisler’s office faces the street,
overlooking a huge liquidambar
tree, creating a comfortable writing
space for his future spy novels. (His
latest, “Inside Out,” was published
in June 2010.)
Although they chose not to get
their remodel green-certified,
the couple did incorporate many
“green” aspects: low VOC paint, a
tankless water heater, no bad glues
in the plywood. They considered
solar panels on the roof but found
them inefficient, given the siting of
the house.
“The greenest thing they did is
not tear the house down,” Mayer
says.
Most important to the couple,
though, was fitting into the neigh-
borhood. “We wanted it to look like
it was always there,” Rennert
says. h+g
Resources:
Architect: Robert Mayer, Santa
Clara, 408-564-5943
Building contractor: John Merwin,
Dimensional Construction, 650261-1917
Interior designer: Alyson Collins,
Spaces That Fit, 831-336-4452,
www.spacesthatfit.com
Goal of project:
Add master bedroom suite and office in
second story
Unexpected problems:
Needed a variance
Year house built:
1951
Size of home, lot:
Original: 1,552 sq ft (3 BD, 2 BA)
Now: 2,346 sq ft (4 BD, 3 BA plus
office), on 5,347-sq-ft lot
Time to complete:
Planning: about 11 months
Construction: 4-5 months
Budget:
$360,000 for core project; another
$40,000-50,000 for extras
Gardenwood Designs
is professional and
friendly. They are at the
top of our list for all our
gardening needs!
”
– Palo Alto Homeowners
Landscape Design
Installation
Custom Wood
■
Certiﬁed Green Building Professional
■
Hardscapes, turf, irrigation, planting
■
Outdoor living spaces, BBQ’s, ﬁre pits, ponds
■
Custom arbors, trellises, fences and gates
■
Organic and sustainable practices
An integral part of our landscape is a
comprehensive maintenance program.
14 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
Structures and
Maintenance
GARDENWOOD
DESIGNS
633 COWPER STREET, PALO ALTO
650-321-9640
WWW.WATERMANANDSUN.COM
LIC. #927789
Modern Solutions for Your Home
877.577.3773
eichlersolutions.com
KG advantage
Lic# 942969 B, C-17
info@eichlersolutions.com
home+garden design | FALL 2010 15
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
A RECIPE FOR
GREEN LIVIN
K
nowing what you want and how to get
it takes much of the guesswork out of
remodeling — especially if you work with
the right design team. Clint Smith and Elizabeth
Arndorfer did just that when they converted a
1940s ranch-style house in Barron Park into a
contemporary home that’s a recipe for “green”
living.
When they purchased the house six years ago,
they knew it was a temporary fix for their growing family, but wanted time to analyze their
needs and work within their budget to get what
they wanted — and then some.
But it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.
“We knew that we wanted an architect with a
strong ‘eco’ bent,” Arndorfer says. She and her
husband chose a San Francisco firm whose work
had been featured in a national magazine. The
project architect, David Waldorf, presented them
with a highly imaginative, cutting-edge design
that they loved.
But it wasn’t a typical add-on with its dramatically soaring roofline and innovative features.
Moreover, the contractor hadn’t had a lot of
experience in “green” design, so it was a learning
In the bathrooms, tile floors and counter tops look curve for everyone.
like grained wood. Counters were finished with staircontinued on page 18
tread tiles with bullnose edges.
16 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
Architect Dav
original or recl
roofline. Photo
NG
FUTURISTIC DESIGN REUSES MANY ORIGINAL MATERIALS
by Ann Bertelsen / photos by Dasja Dolan
From far left: Redwood
beams from the old dining
room now form a staircase
in a loft bedroom; a
â&#x20AC;&#x153;concertinaâ&#x20AC;? swing back
door opens off the kitchen
area to a huge, split-level
deck; the front porch ceiling
slants upward and out to let
in light; the kitchen floor is
made of reclaimed wood that
matches the wide, randomplank floor in the living room.
vid Waldorf designed a pitched cantilevered roof (seen from the back) and an indoor-outdoor environment, often re-using
laimed materials. On the cover: Most of the action takes place at the back of this Barron Park home, with its futuristic, soaring
o by Dasja Dolan.
home+garden design | FALL 2010 17
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
The cork floor in the family room, in bright red, mottled
brown and black, appears like a meandering river.
continued from page 16
The couple has two girls, aged 8 and 10, and a 5-yearold son. Their goal was to break open the boxy house
and create an indoor-outdoor environment, re-using
original or reclaimed materials where possible.
“Initially, we were just going to expand the house in
the back, adding a new master suite and a family room
and home office that could double as a guest room,”
Arndorfer says. “But our architect convinced us that
we’d be sorry if we didn’t also remodel the front,” she
says, pointing to the new front porch with its built-in
seating and colorful planter boxes.
The 1,063-square-foot addition involves a new mas-
18 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
ter suite on one side of the back of the house, a family
room, home office/guest bathroom on the other side,
and an updated kitchen in between. Seen from the rear
garden, it has a futuristic look — a pitched cantilevered
roof that offers shade in summer, while its photovoltaic
panels capture the sun and generate electricity.
Large concertina doors off the dining room and a
sliding barn door in the family room create natural
circulation throughout the house, as do banks of clerestory windows, avoiding the need for air conditioning.
The massive barn door that slides from an exterior
metal frame, came from a farm in Fairfax.
While most of the action takes place at the back of
the house — the living room and original bedrooms
retain the same footprints — the entire residence now
assumes a new drama without appearing disjointed.
“That’s because we reused as many of the original
materials as possible, so the old and new has a natural
flow,” Arndorfer says. The couple loved the beautifully milled redwood ceiling in their living room and
wanted to replicate the look in their remodel. But the
cost of installing new saw-cut redwood was prohibitive.
Instead, their architect found new uses for the redwood
beams and ceiling ripped from the old dining room.
He also devised an ingenious solution to match the living room ceiling.
Arndorfer affectionately calls it her “chicken wire”
continued on page 20
home+garden design | FALL 2010 19
C U S T O M
F O R
A N D
E V E R Y
E V E R Y
MUS
S O L U T I O N S
S T Y L E
B U D G E T
$500 O
FF
T AC
T BE
FOR
E 11
-1
5-10
O U R P E N I N S U L A S H O W R O O M S H AV E
C O N S O L I D AT E D . V I S I T U S AT O U R
N E W LY E X P A N D E D A N D R E N O V A T E D
CAMPBELL SHOWROOM.
T H E B AY A R E A â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S L A R G E S T !
C E RTI F I E D
CAMPBELL
1190
G R E E N
SHOWROOM
DELL
AVENUE
W W W. VA L E T C U S T O M . C O M
408.370.1041
H OME
WALL
O FFICES
BEDS
M E D IA
CLOS E T S
20 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
C E NT E R S
GARAGES
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
continued from page 18
ceiling. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We took sheets of expanded steel mesh and
pre-rusted it,â&#x20AC;? architect Waldorf says. That involved
spraying it with vinegar and dipping it into salt water to
intensify the rusting process. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It became a family affair;
we all went out to the beach and soaked the mesh in
seawater,â&#x20AC;? Arndorfer says.
The rusted mesh was then applied over plywood,
stained to match the adjoining redwood ceiling. It
results in an interesting play of light between the two
materials.
Redwood beams from the old dining room were
reused for window and door trims and for a loft
staircase in a bedroom. Old floor planks were used
for a new kitchen banquette and a built-in daybed in
Arndorferâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office.
The original dining room ceiling now graces the new
front porch, and sections of old redwood were fashioned into a backsplash in the home office bathroom. It
also sports a cabinet found on Craigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List, and a stylish
stainless-steel counter top that Waldorf found discarded
on a city street. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I took it home, cleaned it up, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
prefect for the bathroom,â&#x20AC;? he says.
Green materials include flooring â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the dramatic cork
floor in the family room, reclaimed wide-plank floors
in the kitchen and dining area, and bamboo floors in
the new master suite. Simulated stone kitchen counters
(made from recycled paper products), bamboo kitchen
cabinets, EnergyStar-rated appliances, non-VOC Yolo
paint that eliminates out-gassing, and cement siding
that emulates the original board-and-batten exterior
continue the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ecoâ&#x20AC;? theme.
Arndorfer says the remodel took 14 months to complete and in spite of the inevitable hiccups along the
way, she and her family are thrilled with their new
house.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot like giving birth,â&#x20AC;? she says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You ultimately
forget the pain and tend to revel in the end result.â&#x20AC;? h+g
Resources:
Project architect: David Waldorf, San Francisco, 415377-7738; www.dogsix.com
Building contractor: R.J. Smith & Assoc., 460 S.
California Ave., #82, Palo Alto, 650-321-1775; www.
rjsmithconstruction.com
Landscape design: Candice Stein, 408-297-8873; www.
candicestein.com
Goal of project:
Update and expand a ranch-style home, using as many
â&#x20AC;&#x153;greenâ&#x20AC;? materials/building methods as possible.
Unexpected problems:
Roof needed to be recalculated and redone; additional permit
needed for front porch
Year house built:
1943
Size of home:
Originally 1886 sq ft; now 2946 sq ft on a 10,000-sq-ft lot
Time to complete:
14 months
home+garden design | FALL 2010 21
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
The new kitchen/great room, located where the garage used to be, features a cathedral ceiling, with its large beam
wrapped in redwood veneer. Green touches range from energy-efficient appliances to counter tops made of recycled glass
and concrete.
Creating a
REALLY
GREEN
home
Giving new meaning to
‘reuse, reduce, recycle’
by Carol Blitzer /
photos by Dasja Dolan
I
t’s no surprise that Tom and
Darlene McCalmont are passionate about the environment.
But, a year after selling their company, Regrid Power, and starting
McCalmont Engineering, which
designs solar-power plants, the
couple has finally moved back into
their now very energy-efficient,
sustainably rebuilt Palo Alto home.
The McCalmonts bought their
Barron Park home in 2004, after
attending social events there for
22 FALL 2010 | home+garden design
years.
“I had such good memories
of this house,” Tom says, while
acknowledging it was in terrible
shape. “All the systems were starting to fail,” from electrical to
plumbing.
They lived there for three years
before making significant changes.
“We liked the karma,” Tom says,
noting that the owner did a good
job capturing sunlight. As “solar,
green people,” Tom says their goal
was to keep close to the original
character while updating.
But while the couple knew tons
about solar, they weren’t as knowledgeable about green.
“Everybody talks green, but few
know what to do. We wanted to
learn ourselves,” he says.
It took awhile to find the right
contractor, who agreed to accept
their guidelines:
1) deconstruct, re-use as much as
possible;
2) keep the walls where they are;
re-use foundation
3) keep as many windows and
doors as possible.
“We wanted the ultimate house
to use no fossil fuels, no natural
gas,” Tom says. Today even the two
eco-fireplaces burn alcohol, an easily replaceable fuel.
“Our architect had a nice sense
of style, but he was too modern,”
Tom adds, so they turned to Sue
Harrison and Heidi Lane of Vision
Design in San Jose to do the finish
work.
Much of the framing, including studs and rafters, was re-used.
The original old-growth redwood
siding was stripped and re-used in
the interior. The old Sheetrock was
ground up for re-use; nails were
sent to a steel recycler. Appliances,
fixtures and cabinets went to The
Reuse People in Berkeley.
“Some waste is unavoidable,”
Tom says, but while a typical project might require 11 Dumpsters,
theirs only needed three.
“And deconstruction added about
six weeks to the time,” Darlene
adds.
Every decision was made based
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
The original old-growth redwood siding, top, as
well as rafters, were re-used in the hallways. Above,
tile resembles flowing rocks in the master bathroom,
where light flows in through glass-brick windows. A
seat in the middle adds a practical touch.
on what green products
were available. Instead of
using a gas water heater, the
McCalmonts opted for two
electric, tankless “instant
on” units. For insulation,
they chose foam (“It’s
warm, quiet,” Tom says), as
well as some recycled bluejean material that deadens
sound between bedrooms.
All appliances are
EnergyStar-rated, and the
wood is Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC)-certified.
And, all paint is low- or noVOC (volatile organic compound), with the exterior
pale gray made of recycled
paint. Flooring is mostly
bamboo, carmelized to
resemble dark wood.
The great room/kitchen
was once mainly the old
garage, but termite damage and a weak foundation
forced them to tear it down.
Today it features a cathedral
ceiling with a large beam
wrapped in a redwood
veneer. A large island is
topped by IceStone, made of
recycled glass and concrete.
Cabinets are made of alder,
and most of the lighting is
from recessed LEDs in ceiling cans. More light streams
in through skylights, offering both natural light and
better airflow, Tom says.
The kitchen features a
GE Monogram induction
cooktop plus a combination microwave/convection/
broiler/bake GE Advantium
oven and a second conventional/convection oven.
Darlene, who’s been
known to bake 800 cookies
at Christmastime, reports
that the convection oven
allows her to put in three
cookie sheets at once, cutting baking time by at least
one-third.
Push-out metal trash
chutes lead to recycling and
trash cans outside.
The home is heated via an
energy-efficient heat pump.
“We had a perfect roof for
solar,” Tom says, with very
continued on next page
home+garden design | FALL 2010 23
H O M E + G A R D E N D E S I G N
The ecofireplace,
which burns
alcohol and
requires no
chimney, is
considered
very “green”
because the
alcohol is made
very quickly
with fermented
plants vs.
millions of years
to create fossil
fuels.
continued from previous page
few panels visible from the street. A
heat-recovery ventilator exchanges
air but retains the warmth, he adds.
A half-bath uses one of the few
stone counters, but it was made
from a remnant, what Tom calls
“post-industrial waste.” A bigger
challenge was finding a reasonably
priced bowl sink made of recycled
glass.
“We didn’t get the $3,000 bowl,”
Darlene says.
Although the flooring looks like
slate, it’s actually ceramic tile and
functions as a passive solar area in
the hallway.
One bedroom functions as an
office for both McCalmonts, since
they work at home. Each has a
fold-up desk, and a wall bed sits
in the middle, courtesy of Valet
Organizers.
For privacy, they added a turn
into the master bedroom suite,
which features more exposed ceil-
Creating Gardens of Distinction
Since 1980
ing beams with redwood veneer.
The well-organized closet, again by
Valet Organizers, includes a built-in
ironing board, a retractable rod for
dry cleaning, built-in hamper and
skylights.
“This was our indulgent bathroom,” Darlene says of the master
bathroom. The counter is made
of Vetrazzo recycled glass, and the
ceramic floor (Casa Dolce Casa)
is heated. Design elements include
a tile pattern resembling a flow of
rocks and glass-brick windows in
the double shower, while practical
touches include a seat in the middle
and a wall niche for sundries. An
exterior door leads right outside to
the hot tub.
Much of the house is oriented
to the back yard, with LaCantina
architectural folding glass doors
leading out to the patio, which is
made of stamped concrete that
resembles slate. The fence is made
of FSC-certified cedar.
The McCalmonts had their Prius
continued on page 26
Sterling Custom
Upholstery
NOW ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR PRE-HOLIDAY DELIVERY!
s #534/- '!2$%. $%3)'.3
s 0!6%2 $2)6%7!93
s #/.#2%4% 0!4)/3
s ""1 &)2%0,!#%3
s /54$//2 +)4#(%.3
s 0,!.4).'